Video assisted thoracoscopic surgery vs. thoracotomy for lobectomy: why are we still talking about this?

Recently published results from Long et al. in the February 2018 edition of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery report on a completed surgical trial that many thoracic surgeons may have deemed mission impossible: a trial comparing results for patients undergoing lobectomy for early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were randomized by approach to resection by video assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) versus axillary thoracotomy (1).